
Cœnotaphiorum (6)
Hans Vredeman de Vries
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
Freestanding, raised funeral monument supported by lions and balusters. On top of the monument a sleeping man (gisant) is placed wearing his armor. On the corners of the monument angels are placed holding blank coats of arms. In the background on the right, four steps lead to an arched opening through which a second doorway is visible. Below the image a Latin text is placed, made up out of eight lines divided over two columns.
Drawings and Prints
An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.